title: TiO2 nanowires for potential facile integration of solar cells and electrochromic devices.
abstract: Self-powered systems usually consist of energy-acquisition components, energy-storage components and functional components. The development of nanoscience and nanotechnology has greatly improved the performance of all the components of self-powered systems. However, huge differences in the materials and configurations in the components cause large difficulties for integration and miniaturization of self-powered systems. Design and fabrication of different components in a self-powered system with the same or similar materials/configurations should be able to make the above goal easier. In this work, a proof-of-concept experiment involving an integrated self-powered color-changing system consisting of TiO2 nanowire based sandwich dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and electrochromic devices (ECDs) is designed and demonstrated. When sunlight illuminates the entire system, the DSSCs generate electrical power and turn the ECD to a darker color, dimming the light; by switching the connection polarity of the DSSCs, the lighter color can be regained, implying the potential application of this self-powered color-changing system for next generation sun glasses and smart windows.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Siyuan Laboratory, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510632, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qiang
authors.forename: Zhongwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Peihua
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Shaozao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Pengyi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mai